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Lib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. Over 500 party members responded, and we’ve been publishing the full results.

Today we focus on the performances of the leading lights of the Liberal Democrats — those of our MPs in the cabinet, those occupying ministerial positions, and other leading Lib Dems.

LDV asked: How would you rate the performances of the following leading Liberal Democrats and government ministers?

Full results are published below, but here’s three key lists for those who want to cut to the chase… (with comparison to February 2012 ratings in brackets)

Top 5 Lib Dem performers in the Government:

Vince Cable +60% (+65%)

Lynne Featherstone +55% (+56%)

Edward Davey +44% (+41%)

Steve Webb +42% (+45%)

Michael Moore +42% (+39%)

One change since February: Michael Moore moves up into the top 5, usurping Norman Baker from the quintet of fave Lib Dems. It’s been a heck of an ascent for the Scottish secretary, perhaps the least well-known of the party’s cabinet ministers. Throughout 2010-11, Michael was regularly in our bottom 5 in these surveys; however, the focus on the Scottish independence referendum, together with his regular Westminster Notes column here on LibDemVoice, has given him a much higher profile.

Edward Davey had previously appeared in our top 5, but this is the first time we welcome him in his new incarnation as Energy and Climate Change secretary. Norman Lamb, who has just joined the ranks of ministers as Ed’s replacement at Vince Cable’s BIS department, doesn’t quite make the top 5, but scored a high +37% rating in his first appearance in our survey.

Bottom 5 Lib Dem performers in the Government:

Lord McNally +19% (+26%))

Nick Clegg +16% (+40%)

Danny Alexander +16% (+20%)

Andrew Stunell +11% (+10%)

Paul Burstow -4% (+9%)

Paul Burstow, the Lib Dems’ health minister, earns for himself a somewhat dubious distinction: he’s the first Lib Dem minister to record a negative net rating in our surveys since the Coalition began. Nick Clegg’s ratings (which we’ve already seen have taken a hit as party leader) are down also as deputy prime minister: a plummet from +40% in February to +16% this month in the wake of the controversy over the NHS reforms.

Lord (Tom) McNally — the Justice department minister who is the only Lib Dem previously to have served in government — makes a debut appearance in the bottom 5. This may be the result of a lower profile (in spite of his quite superb conference speeches), or it might be the consequence of unhappiness over Coalition plans for ‘secret trials’.

As I note each time: “the list stands as a reminder to all our Lib Dem ministers of the value of communicating effectively with party members about the work they’re undertaking on behalf of the party, even if it isn’t making the front pages.”

And here’s how other leading Lib Dems score:

Tim Farron +62% (+58%)

Simon Hughes +42% (+47%)

Jo Swinson +42% (n/a)

Brian Paddick +42% (+33%)

Kirsty Williams +39% (+38%)

Caroline Pidgeon +37% (+38%)

Willie Rennie +33% (+28%)

Fiona Hall +13% (+14%)

Tim Gordon +11% (+8%)

We welcome Jo Swinson to our list of leading Lib Dems we survey members about. As well as being Nick Clegg’s Parliamentary Private Secretary, she has also now become the chair of the party’s Federal Policy Committee — a crucial internal position which used to be the prerogative of the party leader before we entered Coalition — both of which roles she’s taken over from Norman Lamb. Jo already has a high profile within the party — reflected in her high debut rating of +42% — since 2005 as an MP, but prior to that within LDYS, the party’s youth wing (as it was then called), and as a vocal opponent of all-women short-lists to boost the party’s female representation in the House of Commons.

Tim Farron, the party’s president, sustains his position as members’ favourite Lib Dem outside of government, even recording a satisfaction rating this month a nose ahead of Vince Cable. Deputy leader Simon Hughes’ ratings take a slight knock, perhaps because of his trenchant defence of recent controversial Coalition policies. By contrast, Brian Paddick, the party’s London mayoral candidate, sees a big boost, a reflection of the sure-footedness of his early and high-profile campaigning alongside Caroline Pidgeon and the Lib Dems’ other GLA candidates.

Edward Davey, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change
Very satisfied 13%
Quite satisfied 40%
Quite dissatisfied 7%
Very dissatisfied 2%
Don’t know / No opinion 38%Net satisfaction +44% (+41% for previous role as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills)

Steve Webb, Minister of State to the Department for Work and Pensions
Very satisfied 17%
Quite satisfied 36%
Quite dissatisfied 8%
Very dissatisfied 3%
Don’t know / No opinion 36%Net satisfaction +42% (+45%)

Andrew Stunell, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State to the Department for Communities and Local Government
Very satisfied 5%
Quite satisfied 27%
Quite dissatisfied 14%
Very dissatisfied 7%
Don’t know / No opinion 47%Net satisfaction +11% (+10%)

• Over 1,300 Lib Dem paid-up party members are registered with LibDemVoice.org. Some 507 responded to the latest survey, which was conducted between 4th and 8th March.
• Please note: we make no claims that the survey is fully representative of the Lib Dem membership as a whole. However, LibDemVoice.org’s surveys are the largest independent samples of the views of Lib Dem members across the country, and have in the past accurately predicted the winners of the contest for Party President, and the result of the conference decision to approve the Coalition agreement.
• The full archive of our members’ surveys can be viewed here